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upgrading ssd and drive cloning

Posted: Thu Aug 09, 2012 5:33 pm
by Sputnik7
Hello TR,
I currently have a crucial m4 128gb ssd as my os drive, and a big 2tb 5400rpm drive as my storage. I do a lot of gaming, and specifically built this new system to do so. I have a 2500k at 4.5ghz, radeon 6950, etc.

However, I realize i've neglected the biggest "apparent" speed increase, playing games on my ssd. As my ssd is only 128gb, it's getting pretty full (40 gb left) and I don't even have any games on it yet.

I have 2 questions, am I better off going with a larger ssd (probably 256gb)? Or should I be thinking the seagate momentus xt hybrid drive route?

My steam folder is roughly 200gb, and that's not the only source of games for me ><. Granted, I don't need all of my games at once on my SSD, and I do know how to use win7 folder junctions to move one game at a time over then back. But with game size increasing (i love my total war games with mods, but they end up being 30-40 gbs when all is said and done), I don't think I have enough space at the moment.

Re: upgrading ssd and drive cloning

Posted: Thu Aug 09, 2012 5:52 pm
by TheEmrys
200 gB of Games? I get by with a 128 gB SSD just fine. Its just a matter of removing games that I'm no longer playing.

Also, start removing demo's and screenshots if you must.

I'd look at a great tool for moving some of your Steam games to another hd. Games you don't play as much or don't really have map load times issues (CS, DODS, HL2, TF2, etc)

Re: upgrading ssd and drive cloning

Posted: Thu Aug 09, 2012 6:35 pm
by Sputnik7
Sorry I may not have explained properly.

I have 200+ gb of games and steam folder on my 2tb mechanical, and nothing (gaming wise) on my ssd yet. My ssd only has ~40 gb of free space left on it after my system files and commonly used non-game programs.

Re: upgrading ssd and drive cloning

Posted: Thu Aug 09, 2012 8:35 pm
by JohnC
Not sure what you're asking... If you are asking about putting games on your future larger SSD to improve gaming experience - you may do what I did: buy a largest SSD available (I got Crucial M4 512GB), put your OS and your games on it, put the rest of the stuff (photos/videos/music/downloads/backups) on "conventional" HDD... I also have lots and lots of games on Steam/Origin/stand-alone, but there's still like 200GB free on my SSD - I just uninstall the games I don't plan on replaying any time soon. For example, right now I have only 18 games installed on Steam (out of about 100 that I've purchased).

Re: upgrading ssd and drive cloning

Posted: Fri Aug 10, 2012 12:27 am
by Sputnik7
I suppose what i'm really asking is should i get a bigger ssd or a hybrid drive?

Re: upgrading ssd and drive cloning

Posted: Fri Aug 10, 2012 12:44 am
by JohnC
Sputnik7 wrote:
I suppose what i'm really asking is should i get a bigger ssd or a hybrid drive?

Personally I'd get a larger SSD drive (that's what I did)... Dunno about hybrid drive, never used them. There's also an option of using Intel's Smart Response (basically it uses your existing SSD as a "cache drive" for most frequently accessed programs/games), but you need a compatible motherboard chipset (Z68/Z77/H77/Q77).

Re: upgrading ssd and drive cloning

Posted: Fri Aug 10, 2012 1:43 am
by MadManOriginal
Hybrid drives aren't worth it imo. SSD or bust.

Also, for Steam games you could always consider downloading them then backing them up locally through Steam to a HDD to conserve space. The reinstall from a local backup wouldn't take nearly as long as a new download and install.

Re: upgrading ssd and drive cloning

Posted: Fri Aug 10, 2012 3:20 pm
by Sputnik7
If i upgrade my ssd, which has my os on it, does anyone have recommendations for drive cloning software? Preferably freeware

Re: upgrading ssd and drive cloning

Posted: Fri Aug 10, 2012 3:36 pm
by JohnC
Sputnik7 wrote:
If i upgrade my ssd, which has my os on it, does anyone have recommendations for drive cloning software? Preferably freeware

http://www.macrium.com/reflectfree.aspx
It's absolutely free, though it does lack certain features compared to full version (like support for GPT disks... which shouldn't be a problem unless you have a motherboard with UEFI).

Re: upgrading ssd and drive cloning

Posted: Fri Aug 10, 2012 3:46 pm
by Sputnik7
Yeah my mobo has UEFI....